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Tuesday, February 04, 2014

VIOLENT ATTACK OF PLAYERS BY FANS PUT BRAZIL IN IN BAD LIGHT MONTHS BEFORE FIFA WORLD CUP

The 2014 FIFA World cup in Brazil is few months away and Brazilian football is under the spotlight for the wrong reasons again
after players from one of the country's most popular clubs,Corinthians, were
attacked by fans upset with the team's struggles.

Nearly 100 fans cut through a wire of mesh fence on Saturday to invade
Corinthians' training grounds, which is where Iran's national team will
be based during the World Cup in June.

They attacked team employees and
grabbed Peruvian striker Paolo Guerrero by his neck, forcing other
players to flee into a locker room and barricade themselves until police
arrived.
"This represents the failure of the Brazilian state," Corinthians
President Mario Gobbi said Monday. "It was something that shocked
everyone, and it still hurts. Teams don't lose because they want to
lose. It's something that happens in football. Authorities are the ones
responsible for handling this type of violence, not the clubs."

Corinthians, which won the 2012 Club World Cup thanks to a goal by
Guerrero in the final against Chelsea, threatened not to play on Sunday
because of the attack, but in the end players were convinced to get on
the field in respect to other fans and sponsorship deals.

The team lost
2-1 to Ponte Preta, marking the third defeat in a row for the country's
second-most popular club, behind Flamengo.

Corinthians coach Mano Menezes was very unhappy with the situation "We can't accept this type of violence. This is not the football that we
want to see here in Brazil, "When
something like this happens, you just feel like going home."

The attack happened at a training centre which will be used
during the World Cup, and comes amid uncertainty over the start of this
year's Brazilian league because of ongoing lawsuits and bribery
allegations.

More violence were reported over weekend, and a video being shown by
local media shows four police officers using batons to strike a lone
supporter allegedly involved in fan fighting during a match in the
central state of Goias. However, FIFA reiterated on Monday that the successful
security plan used in stadiums during last year's Confederations Cup
will be in place again.

"For the World Cup, a thorough security plan will be part of an
integrated operation by private and public entities to guarantee the
safety of fans, players and all participants of the event."The World football governing body remains concerned, though, with the recent turmoil in the Brazilian
league, which may not start on time because of a series of civil
lawsuits against a sports tribunal decision that altered the league's
final standings last year.

Public prosecutors reiterated Monday that
they will continue to seek legal action against the federation, which
could be considered a breach of Fifa's statutes and lead to sanctions
for clubs and the federation itself.

Prosecutors are also investigating whether officials from minnow club
Portuguesa received money to deliberately get the team relegated by
fielding a suspended player in the final round, which led to a
four-point penalty and allowed defending champion Fluminense to avoid
relegation.

Fifa this month will also have to decide whether it will be able to keep
the southern city of Curitiba as a World Cup host city. Local
organisers have until February 18 to show they can get the city's
stadium ready before the tournament begins.

Brazil was named as the 2014 FIFA World Cup host in 2007, but it has had to
constantly deal with preparation problems. The country had promised to have
all 12 stadiums ready by the end of last year, but five remain under
construction less than five months before the opener on June 12.

Brazil's image has already been tarnished by its problematic World Cup
preparations - with host city Curitiba still in danger of being dropped -
and last year a flood of fan violence plagued Brazilian stadiums and
raised safety concerns ahead of football's showcase event.